Calif. voters may decide on legal pot

OAKLAND, Calif., June 11 (UPI) -- Supporters of legal marijuana in California are considering a petition drive to get the issue on the ballot next year.

The state's financial difficulties have many people eying marijuana as a potential revenue source, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The proposed initiative would give counties the authority to regulate marijuana and tax it.

Richard Lee is head of Oaksterdam University, a medical marijuana dispensary in Oakland, and founder of TaxCannabis2010.org. He believes a vote to legalize marijuana in California, the state that pioneered legal medical marijuana, would be a first step to changing the national law.

"This will be a landmark opportunity that will generate interest and funds nationwide," he said.

The initiative would allow Californians to possess no more than an ounce of marijuana for personal use and to grow it in spaces no more than 5 feet square.

Two other efforts to legalize or decriminalize marijuana are working their way through the system. In July, Oakland voters will decide whether to create a category of marijuana taxes, while an assemblyman has sponsored a decriminalization bill.